CECS 474 Computer Network Interoperability

CHAPTER 7 Transmission Media

Tracy radley !aples" #h$%$

Computer Engineering & Computer Science Cal ifornia State University, Long Beach

Notes for Douglas E. Comer, Computer Networks and Internets (5th Edition)

Transmission Media Allcomputercommunicationinvolvesencodingdatainaformofenergy,and sendingtheenergyacrossatransmissionmedium(i.e.,thenetworklinks). Guided and Unguided Media Linkscanbecategorizedbythetypeofpathused: Guided Media:communicationfollowsane actpath(suchasawire) Unguided Media:communicationfollowsnospecificpath(suchasa radiotransmission) Forms of Energy Linkscanbecategorizedbythetypeofenergyusedfortransmission: Electrical Energyisusedonwires Radio Frequency Transmissionisusedforwireless Lightisusedforopticalfibersandlazers

Taxonomy by Forms of Energy

 Linkscanbeimplementedonavarietyofdifferentphysicalmedia. Linkspropagatesignals. !hentransmittingelectricalsignalsoveratransmissionline, attenuation(the signalsgetsmaller)anddistortion(thesignalsgetmisshapen)occur. "hee tentofattenuationanddistortionisbasedon: thetypeoftransmissionmedium thebitrateofthedatabeingtransmitted thedistancebetweenthetwotransmittingdevices #lectricalenergyalwaysflowsalongacompletecircuitsotwowiresare needed.

Characteristics of in!s

"ac!ground Radiation and E ectrica #oise

Three important facts about wiring: $. %oise(alsocalledrandomelectromagneticradiation)permeatesthe environment. #vencommunicationsystemsgenerateminoramountsofelectrical noiseasaside&effectofnormaloperation. '. %oisecaninterferewithsignalsusedforcommunication !henithitsmetal,electromagneticradiationproducesasmallsignal (. )ecauseitabsorbsradiation,metalactsasashieldpreventingnoisefrom reachingthewiring "hus,placingenoughmetalbetweenasourceofnoiseanda communicationmediumcanpreventnoisefrominterfering

Co$$er %ire
E ample !: Twisted pair lines Apairofwiresaretwistedtogether(signalwireandgroundreferencewire). *ultipletwistedpairscanbeenclosedwithinthesamecable.

+hieldedtwistedpairs(+",)arealsousedtoreducetheeffectsofinterference. -at&.issuitablefor$/&$//*bpsforshortdistances(0$//m) 1ntelephonenetworks,unshieldedtwistedpairs(2",)aree tensivelyused withsophisticateddriverandreceivercircuitsyieldinghigherbpsover longerdistances +ufferfrom3skineffect3(i.e.,thecurrentofthewiresflowsonlyonthe outersurfaceofthewire).4esult:1ncreaseselectricalresistanceathigher fre5uencies

%hy is T*isted Pair +t*isted,"hen two wires run in parallel: thereisahighprobabilitythat oneofthemisclosertothe sourceofelectromagnetic radiationthantheother onewiretendstoactasashield thatabsorbssomeofthe electromagneticradiation thus,thesecondwirereceives lessenergy. Exam$ e:1nthefigure,atotalof('unitsofradiationstrikesineachcase. &n 'a()thetopwireabsorbs'/units,andthebottomwireabsorbs$',producinga differenceof6 &n 'b()eachofthetwowiresisontopone&halfofthetime,whichmeansthateach wireabsorbsthesameamountofradiation

Ty$es of T*isted Pair

7nevariationisknownasshie ded t*isted $air '.TP( "hecablehasathinner,morefle iblemetalshieldsurroundingoneor moretwistedpairsofwires. 1nmostversionsof+",cable,theshieldconsistsofmetalfoil,similar tothealuminumfoilusedinakitchen.

E ample #: $oa ial cable

-oa ialcablereduces3skineffect8 "heshieldinacoa ialcableformsafle iblecylinderaroundtheinnerwire thatprovidesabarriertoelectromagneticradiationfromanydirection "hebarrieralsopreventssignalsontheinnerwirefromradiating electromagneticenergy Thin#et) +upports$/&$//*bpsover9'//meters Thic!#et) +upports$/&$//*bpsover9.//meters

G ass Fibers 'or /$tica Fibers(

/$tica fiber) carriesthetransmittedinformationasafluctuatingbeamoflight isimmunetoelectromagneticinterferenceandcrosstalk Com$onents) +ingleglassfiberforeachsignal 7pticaltransmitter(light&emittingdiode(L#:)orin;ectiondiode(1L:)) convertsfromelectricalsignalstoalightsignal 7ptical4eceiver(photodiodeorphototransistor)convertsfromlight signalstoelectrical isgoodforsecurity,becauseitisdifficulttotapanopticalfibercable supportstransmissionratesofhundredsofmegabitspersecondover severalkilometers.

Ty$es of /$tica Fiber

Multimode stepped inde
-laddingandcoreeachhavea differentbutuniformrefractive inde +ignalhasawiderpulsewidth<= modestbitrates

Multimode graded inde

-orematerialhasavariable refractiveinde Lightisrefractedbyanincreasing amountasitmovesawayfromthe core<=narrowspulsewidth

Monomode
4educescorediametertothatofa singlewavelength((&$/ micrometers) Lightpropagatesalongasinglepath <=widthofoutputsignal<widthof inputsignal

Com$aring Co$$er %iring and Fiber

Radio
Anetworkthatuseselectromagneticradiowavesissaidtooperateatradio fre5uency."hetransmissionsarereferredtoas4>transmissions. "helowerfre5uencyradiotransmissioncanbeusedtoreplacefi edwirelinks. :ataratesaretypicallyinthetensofkbpstohundredsof*bps. E ectromagnetic 'Radio( .$ectrum As the figure below shows: onepartofthespectrumcorrespondstoinfraredlightdescribedabove thespectrumusedfor4>communicationsspansfre5uenciesfrom appro imately(?@zto(//A@z itincludesfre5uenciesallocatedtoradioandtelevisionbroadcastaswellas satelliteandmicrowavecommunications

.ate ites
+atellitestransmitdataaselectromagnetic(radio)wavesthroughfreespace. Asatellitecontainsatransponderthatconsistsofaradioreceiverand transmitter. Atransponder(coveringa particularrangeoffre5uencies) receivesthesignaland retransmitsit Asinglesatelliteusually containsB&$'transponders thatoperateindependently. #achtransponderusesa differentfre5uency (orchannel).

Geosynchronous 'or Geostationary( .ate ites

Aeosynchronous(orgeostationary)satellitesareplacedinanorbitthatis synchronizedwiththeearthCsrotation. >romAeostationary#arth7rbit(A#7)asatelliteappearstoremainin e actlythesamepointinthesky. A#7isappro imately (B,///kilometersor '/,///milesfromearth. A#7satellitesare sometimescalled Dhighearthorbit8satellites. Ama imumofE.&F/ satellitescanbeinA#7 toavoidinterferencewith eachother.

Geosynchronous 'or Geostationary( .ate ites 'cont0d(

@owmanyA#7communicationsatellitesarepossibleG "hereisalimitedamountofDspace8availableinthegeosynchronousorbitabove thee5uatorH )ecausecommunicationsatellitesusingagivenfre5uencymustbeseparated fromoneanothertoavoidinterference. "heminimumseparationdependsonthepowerofthetransmitters(butmay re5uireanangularseparationofbetweenEand6degrees). Astechnologyevolves,itispossibletoallocatemoresatellitesinorbit.
%hat is the minimum number of sate ites needed to co1er the earth- Three -onsiderthefigure,whichillustrates threeA#7satellitespositionedaround thee5uatorwith$'/degreeseparation 1nthefigure,thesizeoftheearth andthedistanceofthesatellitesare drawntoscale

2o* Earth /rbit .ate ites

Low#arth7rbit(L#7)satellitesorbitat'//&E//milesaboveearth. "heirperiodofrotationisveryfast(e.g.,anorbitcanbecompletedin9$.. hours). AL#7satellitecanonlybeusedbygroundstationswhenitsorbitpasses overhead. Aroundstationsmustcontinuallybechangedtopointatthesatellite. "hesesatellitesarecheaperbuttheywearoutmore5uickly(runoutoffuel).

2o* Earth /rbit .ate ite Arrays

1nthisscheme,asetofsatellitesisarrangedsothateachpointonthegroundhas atleastonesatelliteoverheadatalltimes. "hisre5uiressophisticatedcommunicationbetweenthesatellites. BBsatellitesarere5uiredtoprovideserviceovertheentireearth. Exam$ e)"hefailed1ridium,ro;ect

.ate ite .ummary

Micro*a1e
*icrowavetransmissionsareelectromagneticradiationbeyondthefre5uency range(i.e.,ahigherrange)usedforradioand"I. *icrowavescanbeaimedinasingledirection. helpspreventinterception cannotgothroughmetal cancarrymoreinformationthanlowerfre5uency4>

&nfrared
Exam$ e) 4emotecontrolsfor"Is,I-4s,etc. 1nfraredcommunication: isgoodforasingleroom mustpointatthereceiver ischeap needsnoantennae canbeusedtoset&upacomputernetworkinasingleroom

2ight from a 2aser

Lightfromalasercanbetransmittedthroughtheair(not;ustthroughfiber optics)tosendinformation. "helaserbeammustbesentinastraightlinebetweenthetransmitterandthe receiver(e.g.,point&to&point). Laserbeamscannotpenetratesnow,fog,vegetation,etc.

/ur Goa
1nnetworking,weareinterestedinthenumberofbitswecansuccessfully transmitpersecond(orb$s)acrossthenetwork. "heb$sisdependentonthetypeoftransmissionmediumused.

3igita Through$ut 1s4 "and*idth

"herelationshipbetweendigitalthroughputandbandwidthisgivenby: #y5uist6s Theorem) 3 7 8 " og8 9 where: 3isthema imumdatarate "isthehardwarebandwidth 9isthenumberofvaluesusedtoencodethedata Exam$ e :)4+&'(' ?<',because4+&'('onlyusestwovalues,J$.or&$.volts. :<')log''<') Exam$ e 8),hase&shift#ncoding +uppose?<6(thenumberofpossibleshifts) :<')log'6<')K(<B)

The Rea ity of #y5uist0s Theorem

,hysicstellsusthatrealsystemsemitandabsorbenergyand anyunwantedenergyiscallednoise% 1n%y5uistLs"heorem,a noise&free system is assumed. %y5uistLs"heoremonlyworksintheory. !eturnto'hannon(s Theorem tocorrectfornoise.

3igita Through$ut 1s4 "and*idth 'Again(

"herealrelationship(withnoiseaccountedfor)betweendigitalthroughputand bandwidthisgivenby: .hannon6s Theorem) C 7 " og8 ': ; .<#( where: Cistheeffectivechannelcapacityinbitspersecond "isthehardwarebandwidth .istheaveragepower(signal) # isthenoise .<# isthesignal&to&noiseratio

Exam$ e)-onventional"elephone+ystem
#ngineeredforvoice

)andwidthis(///@z +ignal&to&noiseratioisappro imately$/// #ffectivecapacity< =>>> og8 ': ; :>>>( 7 ? =>@>>> b$s

Thus) based on 'hannon*s Theorem: :ialupmodemshavelittlehopeofe ceeding'6.6?bps "ut---) 1n thelate$FF/Cs.Bkbitmodemswerecreated.

Conc usions
+yquist(s Theorem meansthatfindingawaytoencodemorebitspercycle improvesthedatarate. 'hannon(s Theorem meansthatnoamountofcleverengineeringcan overcomethefundamentalphysicallimitsofarealtransmissionsystem.